


Xenopology

by CompletelyDifferent



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Culture Shock, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Interspecies Friendship, Social Anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-06-09 05:52:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6892696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CompletelyDifferent/pseuds/CompletelyDifferent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Connie was used to not having any friends. Two years after getting trapped in a magic bubble, she has plenty- but whether it's her own inexperience or the fact that most of them are literal aliens, it's not always easy. All everyone can do is try their best to muddle through it.</p><p>(Loosely connected one-shots centred around Connie's interactions with each of the Crystal Gems).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Steven

Squirrelled up in a bathroom stall, fists clenched, Connie tries not to panic. To keep calm to, to stay rational. 

She doesn’t want to do this. She _can’t_ do this.

But she has to.

Presentations. Why does it have to be presentations? She hates them. Give her an essay, an experiment write-up, a math assignment, or some woodcutting. Or hand her a sword and point her at a monster. She can _handle_ that, no problem.

But make her stand in front of the class and give a presentation?

She hates them. She hates them so, so much, and it’s frustrating. Because Connie _knows_ she knows what she’s talking about. Knows that she’s done her research, knows that her arguments are sound, knows her powerpoint is well constructed. But the moment she finds everyone staring, watching, judging, noticing every and any mistake she makes—

— her palms are sweating— she’s gasping for air, she **can’t** —

_It’s okay_ , a voice in her head says. Comforting, gentle, reassuring. _It’s okay. Breathe_.

She breaths. In. Out. In Out.

Better. 

_I know it’s hard_ , the voice continues. It sounds a lot like Steven’s. _But you’re super smart and super brave. I’m sure you can do it!_

Connie smiles, despite herself. That’s _exactly_ the kind of thing Steven would say to her, if he were here.

_Er. I_ ** _am_** _here,_ says Steven’s voice.

“What?” Connie jerks, staring around the tiny cubicle. Carefully, she unlocks the door, and sticks her head out. Aside from her, the girl's toilet is (thankfully, but confusingly) empty. “Steven? Where are you?”

_Um,_ saysSteven. _Not actually like ‘in the washroom’ here. I’m in your head, I think._

Connie retreats back inside the stall, sits down heavily on the toilet seat and rubs her face. Is she imagining it? Has she finally cracked under the pressure?

_Nope! I fell asleep for a nap then woke up in your brain. It turns out that I’m kind of psychic!_

_What?_ Connie thinks back, experimentally, in case it really is true. _When did that happen?_

Instead of being answered in words, Connie’s flooded with a series of images, thoughts, emotions; _a dark green ocean— Lapis Lazuli being pulled down by heavy chains— fear, sadness, desperation— waking up into a body of a watermelon— burning pain in his head, in his gem, inescapable— a scattered galaxy of shattered shards, lit up like stars— “I’ve got you, you’ve got this, we’ve all got **each other**!”_ —

Connie gasps. The torrent stops immediately. She has no doubt now that this is really happening, that Steven really is psychically communicating with her.  _So you dealt with the Cluster then?_

_Yep,_ Steven agrees. _She—_ they? _— were just lonely and scared._

Connie clutches at her stomach. She can relate.

_But you’re not alone! I’m here!_

Connie smiles. _Heh. Yeah, you are._

She feels as though Steven’s giving her a hug. Or the mental equivalent of one; it feels like a warmth radiating though her whole body. She tries projecting the same kind of hug back in turn.

It gives her enough confidence to stand back up, to go back out into the washroom. She (they?) look at her in the mirror. Her eyes are a little red, but not too bad. She splashes herself with water, then dries her face with a paper towel. It’s okay.

“Let’s go,” Connie says. But her feet do not move. 

Then after a moment, they do. But not of her own accord.

It’s a little clumsy, at first. Her legs are longer and thinner than the one’s Steven’s used to, and he’s a hesitant.

_Is this okay?_ Steven asks. She can feel him ready to pull back the moment she asks. 

Connie gulps. It’s a little disquieting, but… _No, no, this is fine. Thanks_.

It’s not like they haven’t shared a body before, after all. 

With Steven managing her feet and her steering, they make their way back to her classroom. Connie’s feeling calmer by the time they reach it. Her breathing is more regular, her face cooler. She’s not sure if Steven’s somehow overridden her body’s stress response, or if just having him there has calmed her down. 

Her teacher, thankfully, doesn’t make any comment about how long she took in the toilet. Just says, “Right on time, Connie. You’re up.”

Good. Better to get it over with.

_That’s the spirt!_ cheers Steven.

He’s a bright, warm presence in her mind as she navigates the teacher’s computer and loads her presentation. He’s a warm hand on her shoulder when she stands and faces the class. He’s a gentle nudge when it’s finally time for her to speak up. 

“Hey, everyone,” they begin, together. “Today I will be giving my presentation on the Hundred Year War, and the effect that the magical influences on the French military had on the war's outcome..."

She goes from slide to slide, pointing out images, providing context, describing her sources, reading quotes. Sometimes she starts speaking a little too fast; Steven pulls her back. He helps her make eye contact with the people watching. They don’t look judgemental or angry. Most of them just look vaguely bored, like they do for almost every lecture— some even seem actively interested— one girl is even smiling and nodding along, she must be doing _something_ right—

And well… it’s not great. But it’s not bad. She follows her script, delivers her facts, focuses on keeping her voice calm and measured. And by the time she reaches her conclusion, and a smattering of applause goes up around the classroom, the smile on her face is genuine.

“Very nice work, Connie,” the teacher says approvingly before calling up the next student. Connie nods at him, then rushes off to her seat.

_Thanks Steven_ , she thinks.

There’s no response.

_Steven?_

Nothing.

Connie frowns. Maybe she really _did_ imagine him, after all.

But that seems pretty unlikely. 

She fishes around in her school bag as surreptitiously as she can. She pulls out her old, blocky phone and switches it on. Its boot-up is thankfully quiet, and easily covered up by the boy giving his own history presentation.  She watches it absently as she waits; it's about the rise of The Aqua-Mexican Empire in the 20th Century. Normally she'd be interested, but she's checking her texts the moment the phone buzzes. 

The display says: _Three New Messages; Steven Universe_. Clicking on them, they say:  
  
_Sorry I left_  
_Pearl woke me up for lunch_  
 _How did it go?_

A pleased, satisfied smile curls across her face. Slowly, quietly, taking care so that the teacher won’t notice, she types out her reply:

_It went really_ g _reat!_

Another buzz only a moment later. _I knew you could do it._

Connie’s face feels very warm when she types back, _With you help. Thanks._

His response is very simple:

_:)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been praying for more Connie-and-gem interactions, but they have been a rare thing in the show indeed... so I decided I'd go and write some myself!
> 
> And of course, and ended up starting with a Connie and Steven thing, the pair who already gets the most canon interaction. I couldn't help myself; I love their dynamic, and I'm super hyped for Steven's psychic abilities. (Okay, it's probably only limited to gems but shhhhhh)
> 
> Next up, Pearl and Connie. That said, you'll have to wait until In Too Deep is over. ;)


	2. Pearl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has references and spoilers to the episodes "Barn Mates" and "Hit the Diamond". So if you haven't watched 'em yet, you might want to hold off. ;)

Forward slash, block, parry, thrust, backstep, dodge, lunge, duck, parry, slash, slash, _slash_ —

— the sword went flying from Pearl’s hand. Connie flashed forward, quick as lightning, and pressed her own blade against Pearl’s throat. 

“Wonderful, Connie!” Pearl beamed, unperturbed by the cold press of metal against her neck. Of course, it posed no real threat to her there. Connie pulled the sword away, regardless. While there wasn’t any risk of her accidentally killing her teacher, it _would_ be pretty embarrassing if she ended up poofing her. 

Connie sheathed Rose Quartz’s sword, face flushed from the praise and exertion. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“I’m very pleased to see that you didn’t let your skills atrophy during our… break, shall we say,” said Pearl.

“I trained whenever I could,” Connie said. It had been a lot easier finding time to do so ever since her parents had allowed her to dial back on tennis and violin practice. All the Gems— Pearl especially— had been busy constructing the drill, but Connie hadn’t wanted to slack off, especially when they were all working so hard. She’d felt rather nervous, in fact, afraid that she may have lost her edge. 

She needn’t have worried. It had taken her a little while to warm up, but by the third round she’d been back into the usual swing of things, and had even managed to _disarm_ Pearl. Of course, that was only because Pearl had let her— the Gem was still stronger, faster, and far more experienced than her— but that Pearl had allowed herself to be defeated still spoke volumes.

Pearl called a break, allowing Connie the chance to rest and rehydrate. Connie took at seat on the old crumbling steps of the Sky Arena, had a long drink of water, and then said, “Can I ask you something?”

Pearl blinked, taken aback by the strange change of tone in her voice. “Of course.”

“Not— not about sword fighting,” said Connie. “About…” she waved her hand vaguely, “Things.”

Pearl raised an eyebrow.

“Peridot and Lapis,” Connie clarified.

“Ah,” said Pearl. “Yes. Go on.”

Connie took another long gulp of water, as a chance to allow her to phrase the question. “What… How do you feel about them?”

Pearl hummed. “That is a… complicated question.” 

Connie sighed a little. She had suspected it might be.

Steven, of course, loved the them. He’d been keeping her updated on everything that had been happening over the course of the past few months, and while he was filled with excitement and enthusiasm for his two new alien friends, Connie was still a little unsure how to take all of it. 

The thing about Steven was… well, he was so _nice_. Unrelentingly nice. Even to that dude who worked in the donut shop, who was, as far as Connie could tell, a total jerk. 

And these new Gems were more than just some guy with an attitude problem. They had done… genuinely bad things. Lapis had stolen the entire ocean, without even once considering the effects that would have on the humans and animals who used it. Peridot had kidnapped Steve, multiple times, and even attempted to _kill_ him. Three months ago she hadn’t had a single problem with seeing the planet shatter into a million pieces.   

Steven assured her that none of that was a problem now. Lapis had just been scared and desperate. Peridot hadn’t known better. And maybe he was right.

She still wanted a second opinion.

Pearl had placed her own sword on the stairs, and was looking thoughtful. “Peridot has certainly proven herself,” she said. “She’s come a long way. She stood up to Yellow Diamond, did well on the Cluster mission, and was willing to give herself up to Homeworld forces to protect us.”

Connie nodded. That really was good, then. Proved that she was trustworthy. Still, she recalled the brief interactions she’d had with Peridot when she’d stayed at the barn for Steven’s birthday, all prickly and irritable. “Has she started being… nicer?”

Pearl’s cheeks turned blue.

“I- I meant in general!” Connie said quickly. “I didn’t mean— nicer to _you_ , specifically….”

“No, no, it’s— it’s quite alright,” Pearl sighed, though she still looked awkward. “I suppose… I suppose Steven’s told you? About the other Pearls?” 

“Yeah,” said Connie, softly. But honestly, she hadn’t been very surprised by the information. She’d had her suspicions. During training sessions Pearl would sometimes… let things slip. Nothing big, but all together it had been enough to make her wonder. “It… it doesn’t change… how I feel about you. Just. Just so you know. You’re still so… so brave, and smart, and the best teacher I’ve ever had.” 

“I’m the _only_ sword teacher you’ve ever had,” said Pearl.

“I didn’t specify sword teacher,” said Connie.

“Oh.” Pearl looked quite pleased. There was a brief silence while she let the compliment sink in and then. “She has gotten better, yes. Not just with me, but all of us. She still slips up occasionally… but she’s trying, I think. And I know how hard it can be.”

That was good to know. But… “How about Lapis?”

“Her, I’m less sure about.” Pearl’s expression was pensive. “She’s not an active threat. She can’t return to Homeworld, and she cares about Steven. But she doesn’t have a particularly high opinion of the rest of us… and I can’t say I blame her.”

Connie stared at the callouses on her hand, thinking of what Steven had told her had happened to Lapis. “Pearl… why did you leave her gem in the mirror?”

“I didn’t think. None of us did,” Pearl said. “On Homeworld, putting Gems in objects is common practice. Gems are excellent power sources, and it’s considered an efficient way of getting use out of someone who’s failed.” Pearl’s face screwed into a look filled with bitterness and disgust. “It sounds terrible, once you say it aloud.

“Regardless,” she continued, “When I found the mirror, we simply didn’t think anything of it. And besides, the Gems powering such items aren’t supposed to be _conscious_. Perhaps they built the mirror deliberately so they’d be able to interrogate Lapis; perhaps that’s just one more thing Homeworld lied about.”

Pearl’s voice was heavy with guilt, but Connie didn’t think she could carry too much of the blame. She hadn’t been the one to put Lapis in the mirror; she hadn’t known. There was still one question that remained, however. “But once you learned the truth— why didn’t you release her then?” 

“We— we panicked,” said Pearl. “We had no idea who the Gem in there was; if she was a threat, if she was sympathetic to the rebellion… There's so _few_ of us, now, Connie. Homeworld… Homeworld **destroyed** everyone else. The only reason the Diamonds never came back to finish us off was because they didn’t know we were still alive— or so we thought. We simply couldn’t take the risk that someone would try to contact them.”

The funny thing about Pearl— about all the Gems— was that they usually looked so young. With her huge eyes, her unwrinkled skin, her grace and agility, Pearl looked younger than Connie’s own mother. It was so _easy_ to forget the truth, sometimes. 

But then there would come moments like this, where weariness would weigh down on Pearl’s shoulders, and Connie would see her teacher as the ancient solider she really was. 

Carefully— hesitantly— Connie reached out a hand and laid it on Pearl’s knee. Pearl gave a small, grateful smile at the touch. 

“I suppose there’s nothing that can be done about it now,” said Pearl. “We’ll know better, in future.”

With that, Pearl stood, picking her sword up once more. Her tone was suddenly brisk. “Well, that’s quite enough sitting around, I think. You may have done well, but don’t think there’s no room for improvement. You’re still telegraphing your strikes too much. You need to make them far less obvious. Let me show you the correct way to hold yourself…”

Connie suppressed a groan as she stood and stretched. 

They all have a lot left to learn, after all.


	3. Peridot

“Hey, Steven, I’m here!— _oh_.”

Connie stopped, dead in her tracks. There was a small green Gem sitting on the couch. “Hello Connie! I see that you have arrived for the day of friendly ‘hanging out’. Welcome!”

“Uh… hello. Peridot,” said Connie. She quickly scanned the room. “Where’s Steven?”

(Or the Gems. Or Mr. Universe. Or _anyone_ else, really.)

“He’s in the bathroom,” Peridot said, a brief grimace flashing across her face. It was replaced instantly with a too-bright smile. “He will be finished shortly, I’m sure. In the meantime, can I get you refreshments?” She spoke every sentence like it was a line rehearsed for a play, unnaturally stiff and formal. 

“Ah, no. I can do it myself,” Connie said quickly. She bolted towards the kitchen. She knew from experience that Gem attitudes towards eating could be… atypical, and this particular Gem had been on the planet for less than a year. It would be safer to deal with the food herself.

Connie took this as an opportunity to dump the snacks she’d brought on the counter. Nuts, dried mango, and granola bars were exchanged for bags of chaps and salted pretzels. It wasn’t that Connie didn’t appreciate the importance of eating healthy; it was just that Steven hang-outs were basically the only times she ever got to eat junk food, and she relished the opportunity. 

Throughout the entire process, she was aware of Peridot staring at her. Connie did her best to ignore it, turning towards the fridge, under the pretence of finding a cold drink. There was juice, milk, soda, but Connie didn’t reach for any of it. She was too distracted. 

Peridot was here. 

So? What did that matter? Steven trusted Peridot, and so did Pearl. Garnet and Amethyst did too, presumably, because they would never have left them alone with her otherwise. She was just a Gem, and a rather small and weak one at that. She didn’t have any gun hands or giant laser spaceships. She had helped save the world, and now she was just going to spend the day peacefully hanging out. Everything was perfectly fine. 

But Connie still didn’t like it.

Still standing in front of the open fridge, Connie realised she was letting all the cold out. She chose a soda can at random, then slammed the door closed with more force than intended.

She turned. Peridot was still staring at her. 

Connie snapped open the can’s lid. Staring back at Peridot, she took a long sip of what turned out to be Sprite. 

Then the two just stood there, watching each other. Neither of them said anything. Neither of them were sure _what_ to say.

Finally, just when it seemed that the awkwardness was going to reach unbearable levels, Steven turned the corner from the bathroom, still shaking his hands to finish drying them. His eyes lit up when he saw her. “Connie!”

He ran over, embracing her in a warm hug, nearly knocking the drink out of her hand in his enthusiasm. Connie didn’t care, and just hugged him right back. “You ready for a day of _awesomeness_?”

“You know I am,” Connie said. But her eyes flickered to Peridot, who was standing awkwardly to the side, wringing her hands. “Er… is Peridot joining us?”

“Yeah! You don’t mind, do you?”

Steven face was so eager, so excited, that there was no way she could say no. “Nope.”

“Awesome! I’ll get the TV set up.”

Steven gathered up the snacks she’d laid out, then rushed up the stairs with them. After a pause, the other two followed in his wake— Connie taking the stairs two by two, Peridot running on all fours like a skittish cat. Steven immediately dumped the food on the bed, then set to work on the confusing mess of wires controlling his TV, DVD player and various game consoles. Peridot watched it with such an intense curiosity which made Connie feel a little uncomfortable. 

“So,” Connie said as she settled on the bed. “Peridot. I thought you were staying at the barn?”

“I am,” said Peridot. “But Lapis Lazuli requested some alone time, so Steven suggested I remain at the temple for a few days.”

“It’s gonna be awesome!” said Steven, as the TV finally winked on. “I can’t wait to really show her around Beach City! And to show her _Under the Knife_! It’s the —“

“Season finale, I know!” Connie said with a loud squeak. “I’ve been dodging spoilers for _weeks_. I can’t wait to find out whether or not they cure—

“Jasmine’s cancer,” Steven and Connie finished together, grinning.

Peridot cocked her head in confusion. “What’s cancer?”

Connie blanched. “It’s— uh, a really bad disease humans get. Er, Steven, are _you_ sure Peridot wants to watch. I mean, we’re on season four, the satire’s probably going to be lost on her— and does she even know what TV is?”

Peridot face split into a giant grin, her chest puffing out. “I do indeed know what a TV is! I am something of an expert, in fact. My specialised knowledge lies in _Camp Pining Hearts_. Are you familiar?”

“ _Camp Pining Hearts_?” Connie frowned. “Wait—  that cheesy Canadian teen drama from the 90s?”

“That’s the one!” said Steven.

“Cheesy? Like the chaps?” asked Peridot. When Connie didn’t clarify, she continued, “Regardless, I am looking forward to broaden my knowledge of television, and to compare two shows’ quality. It will be a fascinating endeavour.”

“…Yeah,” Connie said. “Fascinating.”

What with Connie’s mom still forbidding her from watching the show for being ‘unrealistic’, and Steven having spent the last few months living in a barn and saving the world, they had a lot of catching up to do before the reached the finale. Eight episodes, specifically, each twenty-two minutes. Factoring time for food and bathroom breaks, they should have been able to finish in less than four hours, leaving plenty of time afterwards for flailing, discussion, and looking up fan theories on the internet.

Thing was, none of these calculations had factored in Peridot, and her constant questions.

“Where are they?” she asked.

“What’s a hospital?” she asked, after receiving her answer.  


“I see some staff wear blue while others where white. Do they operate under a Color War system?”

“So the ‘doctors’ are essentially human technicians. How do they differ from ‘nurses’? Is it simply a matter of skill and rank?”

“Why is that human emitting red liquid?”

“Is this doctor antagonistic? No? Then why is she cutting the other human up?”

“How does the ‘kiss of life’ differ from ordinary kissing? Are the doctor and patient a pairing? They seem very ill matched.”

“Do ears routinely grow within the human gas exchange system?”

“Are chickens inherently beneficial to the human immune system, or is there something about the ‘soup’ method of preparation that gives them these healing properties?”

“How many volts of electricity can the human body withstand?”

And so the questions continued. On and on and on. At first they tried to explain over the show, but then Peridot would just ask more questions, until Connie could barely hear what was happening in the show. They missed Dr. Chase’s anguished declaration of love; they could barely pay attention when Jasmine had to explain her coming death to her seven-year old niece. They had no choice but to start pausing. Steven didn’t seem to mind at all, but Connie was getting frustrated. After two hours, they were only just starting on the third episode, and Connie felt her hopes of watching the season finale vanishing, just like Dr. Chase’s chances of ever winning back Sandra’s affections. Once that episode finally finished, Steven suggested they break for lunch, and Connie jumped at the chance. Anything to get Peridot to just be _quiet_. 

Together, the two of them laid the ingredients for nachos out on the kitchen counter, while Peridot retreated to the couch, using Steven’s phone to browse through the _Under the Knife_ wiki. As Connie grated cheese could hear Peridot muttering to herself, though she couldn’t make out much more than “ _outdated inefficient human technology_ ”. 

Cooking was fun. Connie enjoyed the feeling of the knife in her hand, the sharp, satisfying thunk of the cutting board as she sliced through peppers, onions, avocado. She and Steven talked all the way through— about the show, about the school year starting up next week, about her revised training schedule with Pearl— all littered with silly jokes and ridiculous expressions. At one point, Steven gestured too wildly while he was mixing the guacamole, and splattered her in the face with it; Connie returned in kind with a spoonful of flung sour cream. Three minutes later they fell onto the floor laughing, floor and faces covered in salsa.

Peridot had hoisted herself onto a spare bit of countertop, and was staring down with a cross between confusion and distaste. “Is this necessary to the cooking process?”

The joy that had bubbled up in Connie’s chest deflated. 

“Nah,” said Steven, as he pulled himself to his feet. He held out a hand to help Connie up, and she took it. “It’s just fun.”

“It seems like a very messy kind of fun,” said Peridot.

Steven laughed. “Yeah, don’t worry. Pearl will help us clean up later.”

“Ah! So Pearl _does_ help with maintenance duty, then?”

Connie froze, grimacing. 

“Only because she _wants_ to,” Steven said, with amazing patience. “And we all help out, too. Well, not Amethyst. But the rest of us.”

Peridot made a little, wordless grunt. Connie walked past her quickly. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Steven caught up with her just as she reached the door. “Hey, wait up,” he said in a low voice.

“What?” asked Connie. Her voice was sharper than intended.

“Is everything okay? You’ve been acting kinda weird. Are you feeling sick?”

Connie softened. “I’m fine, Steven.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure,” she said. “I just gotta clean off all this mess.” She paused, then added conspiratorially, “And I gotta poop.”

Steven snickered, just as Connie knew he would. He let her go with out any more fuss.

And it wasn’t like she had lied, Connie thought, as she sat on the toilet seat. She _was_ fine. She was just justifiably on edge, hanging out with who, just months ago, had been a homicidal alien. One that kept interrupting TV shows. 

_Steven asks a lot of questions during TV shows_ , some part of her pointed out as she washed her hands.

_That’s completely different_ , she retorted, and she wiped the salsa and sour cream off her face with a towel.

She put down the towel. Stared at her own face in the mirror. She looked doubtful.

“It is,” she said aloud.

Steven was _so_ sweet when he asked questions about books and TV shows. And he made silly jokes, too. And he was so much better at understanding character motivations than she was, so he always added interesting commentary…

But, didn’t Peridot? Sure, her commentary was weird, but it was a genuinely alien perspective. What was that if not _interesting_?

_Annoying_ , Connie thought, but it sounded petty, even to her. 

Grumpy and frustrated, and not entirely sure who at, Connie headed back out into the living room. She was met by the invitingly spicy smell of hot tortilla chips and cheese; food was laid out on the coffee table, delicious and inviting. There were three spots set. Steven and Peridot sat on the couch, laughing at something— Steven guffawing, Peridot snickering. Connie felt something inside her unfurl.

If Peridot made Steven happy… she had to at least give her a chance, right?

Steven noticed she was standing there, and grinned. “Bon appétit!

Connie grabbed the spot on the couch next to Steven as he began heaping her plate with nachos. Peridot was sitting on the floor, arms wrapped around her knees, staring at the food with eyes that were wide behind her visor. 

As politely as she could, Connie asked, “Are you going to eat with us, Peridot?”

Peridot bit her lips. “No.”

“Aww, come on Peri,” Steven said, stuffing a fistful of chips into his mouth at once. “ _It’stastfy._ ”

Disgust and fascination warred on Peridot’s face. “I’ll admit, I have found food flavours quite pleasant. It’s the digestion process which worries me. According to Amethyst, I would need to build an entire specialised system, and I’ve never shapeshifted at all.”

Steven looked sympathetic. “Shape shifting _is_ pretty hard. You should start with something easy, like stretching.”

“Maybe,” said Peridot. But she was staring at the table, her expression worried.

Connie knew how anxious Steven could get about his own powers; that he would never be as helpful as the other Gems, that he might never live up to his mom. Maybe Peridot worried about that too? It seemed strange to imagine a Homeworld Gem concerned about anything like that… but Peridot was out of her field, and Connie knew exactly how that felt.  

“Hey,” she started, slowly. “If… if you wanted, I could explain the human digestive track to you. It might be easier to, well, build, if you know how it works.”

Peridot looked at her— and then nodded briskly. “Yes. A logical suggestion!”

And with that, she stood up, and bounded up the stairs to the loft. Connie looked at Steven, who just shrugged, and took another handful of chips. A few minutes later Peridot returned, pencil case and papers in her hand, looking immensely proud of her acquisition. “Let’s begin!”

“Right now?” Connie asked, glancing at her own plate of barely touched nachos. Then she gave an internal shrug. She could eat while she explained. “Sure.”

Through drawings, physical demonstrations, and the occasional help of the internet, Connie lead Peridot through the science of human digestion. How it began with mechanical destruction in the mouth; how enzymes, “tiny, super efficient machines”, worked to break down food into more basic components; how each of those different components was needed to make different parts of the body; how acids in the stomach protected the body from pathogens; how bile was used to improve the absorption of lipids; how the large surface area of villi were used to increase the rate of absorption, and so on. Steven sat in, quite content to listen to her lecture— he actually already knew a fair amount of how the human biology, thanks to lessons from his dad, but Steven didn’t go to school _or_ have a doctor for a mom. Peridot would listen, rapt, as well, until she came to something she didn’t understand, or wanted greater clarification on; then she’d fire questions out like a cannon. They could be challenging questions, too, ones that truly stretched Connie’s knowledge to the limits. 

Difficult as the questions were though, Connie didn’t find them frustrating as before. Without TV playing in the background, it felt good to take her time, to provide a really thorough explanation.

As the discussion wore on and the nachos vanished, Steven began to lose internet, and instead began doodling idly on one of the spare pieces of paper. Peridot, in comparison, remained fascinated… but a dazed amazement entered her tone. “It’s just so complicated,” Peridot said, when Connie asked. “Your organic bodies seem so _simple_ , yet they require such complex mechanisms to function. I have no idea how I could even begin to replicate it!”

“You probably wouldn’t have to make it this complicated,” Connie said.

“But Amethyst—“

“Amethyst’s made a fully functioning digestive system. I think she might have even made her own adjustments, to be able to eat the stuff she eats,” said Connie. “She’s told me she gets energy from her food, so she’s actively digesting it. But all you care about is how food tastes. You could simplify the design, so that you can break down the food enough to… er, expel it, but you wouldn’t have to bother actually absorbing anything. That would probably be a lot easier.”

Peridot seemed intrigued by the idea, and they spent another hour discussing it. They never did end up getting back to _Under the Knife_. Next thing Connie knew, she looked up to see that it was growing dark outside. Her parents would be coming to pick her up soon!

“I’ve gotta go,” Connie said apologetically to both of them, as she scooped up her backpack and headed for the front door. “Say hi to the others for me.”

“Will do!” Steven said, waving cheerfully. “Bye Connie!”

Peridot, staring at the many diagrams littered around her, let Connie go without saying anything. 

Or, at least, she didn’t until Connie was halfway to the boardwalk— then she heard the Gem shouting her name from across the beach. Connie turned, surprised, to find Peridot tearing through the sand on all fours. Connie and stopped, waiting for Peridot to reach her. Once she did, the Gem straightened and said, “Connie. I wanted to apologize.”

Connie blinked. “Apologize?”

“Steven explained to me that watching _Under the Knife_  is a ritual you share, and one that you can partake in only rarely. I realize that I distracted you and disrupted your ritual. I'm sorry."

“I…” began Connie. Peridot wasn’t meeting her eyes. “No, don’t say sorry. It’s okay… I can just watch it later. And… um, I had fun, Peridot. It was nice talking to you.”

Peridot looked up quickly. Her face was flushed a deeper green. “Really?”

“Yeah.” And Connie was a little surprised to find that she meant it. 

A pause. Then, “Wow, thanks.”

The alien smiled at her. And slowly, the human smiled back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot, I finally managed to post something!
> 
> Seriously. I was wiped out from my wisdom teeth removal for like five days, and then after that, my inspiration and the ability to edit seemed to have vanished. I have like three other WiPs I started before this, but this one gets credit for being the first one that gave me the mental energy to finish. Guess that's the power of Peri and Connie geeking out together.
> 
> Up next; possibly Amethyst, most likely Lapis. Or maybe Lion. Guess we'll find out together.


	4. Lion

Classrooms have a reputation of being boring places. Glorified prison cells filled with the scent of sweat and boredom, silent students staring slack-jawed and dull-eyed at the front while a teacher droned on and on.

And sometimes, that reputation is true. But not in the case of this particular one: art class. 

Ms. Daw, the art teacher,  did her best to make it as warm, welcoming, and as vibrant a place as she could. It was held in a large, open space, more of a studio than a classroom. Big, old desks, long since stained with paint and clay; high ceilings and large, bright windows; walls coloured in all manner of paintings and drawings, colour charts, perspective diagrams; the air thick with the smell of acrylic and the chatter of children.

It was a light, playful atmosphere; at least, until said chatter was suddenly silenced when the school PA system crackled into life. First it blared three, long warning tones. Then the principle’s voice came on. “Students, staff, and anyone present in the school; please go immediately to a classroom and stay there. Repeat: leave the hallways and go immediately to a classroom. Lock the doors and remain there until further instructions are issued.”

The announcement ended. There was silence; then chaos.

The students erupted into noise. Whispers, shouts, questions, rumours, the occasional _scream_....

“What’s going on?!” said a girl, Josephine.

“Is there a shooter?” asked one boy, Joey. 

“Maybe it’s a fire!” cried Sarah. 

“Don’t be stupid. If it was a fire, they wouldn’t have told us to stay inside,” pointed out Tamika. 

“Maybe it’s a prank…” said Yu Hin. 

“Quiet, everyone, quiet,” said Ms. Daw, the art teacher. She was already on her feet, heading to the door. It was closed, but it would need to be locked. As she went, she grabbed a knife from a nearby table. It was a safety knife intended for cutting nothing than harder than cardboard, but it was better than nothing. Just in case.

She tried to be subtle about it, but a few students noticed, prompting another roar of fierce whispers to go up around the room. 

“Do you know what’s happening, Ms. Daw?” asked Joanne, who was holding her paintbrush to her chest, apparently not noticing that she was splattering green paint all over her shirt. 

Ms. Daw turned the lock. “No,” she said, honestly. “But I’m sure we’ll get an explanation soon enough. For now, let’s continue with the projects. I still want to see completed still lifes from _everyone_ by the end of class!”

Her voice was as calm and commanding as always, but privately, Ms. Daw was as troubled as her students. She had no idea what could be happening that would prompt such an announcement. It didn’t fit any of the standard emergency protocols. Surreptitiously, she peered through into the hall through the small slitted window in the door, to see if she could work out what was happening. 

At first, nothing looked amiss. It was a regular, normal school hallways. Empty, aside from lockers and trashcans.

Then a student turned the corner, running at full tilt. 

He was a young boy, someone Ms. Daw had never taught herself, but recognised from conversations as something of a joker. He didn’t look like he was joking now. His face was ashen, his eyes wide with fear, and he was running like his life depended on it.

“ _LION_!” he screamed. “HEEEEELPP!”

The story of ‘the boy who cried wolf’ (or rather, in this case, lion), flashed briefly through Ms. Daw’s head. She abandoned it immediately. Maybe the boy was lying; maybe he wasn’t. Fact was, all students were currently required to be inside a classroom, and she was not going to leave this boy in danger.

She unlatched the lock, threw open the door, and shouted, “In here!”

The boy charged towards her with desperate relief. And then, around the corner, came the lion.

It was also, incidentally, pink, but that didn’t really seem to matter at the moment.

Ms. Daw swore under her breath. Behind her she could hear students standing up, pressing forward, eager to see. “Get back!” she shouted at them, not looking away. The boy had a good lead on the lion. He’d reach the classroom in time, no problem.

But would the door be able to hold, if the lion decided to try and get in?

The boy dashed through the doorway. Ms. Daw moved to slam the door shut and lock it— another shape dove past her, into the hallway. 

Ms. Daw blinked at the figure, taking in the green shirt, the brown skin and black hair. Recognition jolted through her. “CONNIE MAHESWARAN,” she screamed, “ _GET BACK HERE!_ ”

Connie didn’t even listen, just kept running forward, right towards the lion.

Ms. Daw felt the knife in her hand, so small and light, and wondered whether charging in would accomplish anything but getting them both mauled. 

Seeing her, the lion gained speed. It bounded towards her, and just when it seemed as though it might tackle her, stopped. And then Connie did something almost as unexpected: she started talking to it. 

“Lion! What are you _doing here_?” she asked. “Where’s Steven?”

The creature made a noise. Not a growl, but something close to it, irritated and impatient. It sounded like a house-cat waiting to be fed. 

“Is he in trouble? Do you need my help?”

The lion hissed.

Connie nodded. “O- okay.” Ms. Daw couldn’t see the girl’s expression, but she saw the way Connie seemed to steel herself, the way her fists clenched. “I need the sword.”

Ms. Daw could feel the press of students crowded around her, staring, muttering, but she was too stunned to order them back. Because at that moment, the lion stepped backwards, dipped its head as though in a bow, and began to _glow_.

His eyes, his mane, they burned with the most brilliant, dazzling light. It beamed like a star, blinding, filling the entire hallway. Connie didn’t even flinch. She just reached forward, stuck her hand into the thick fur of his mane—

— and pulled out a sword. 

Not a toy sword, made from plastic or wood. Not a fencing sword, lightweight and dull. Not even the kind of sword you see in history books, all grey worked metal.

No. This was the kind of sword from myth. Bright pink, shimmering in the ethereal light, almost as long as the girl was tall. It made the knife in Ms. Daw’s hand seem pitiful in comparison.

And Connie slung it casually over her shoulder, as though it weighed nothing.

Connie. Connie Maheswaran. Connie Maheswaran, who sat near the back of the class and barely ever spoke to anyone. Connie Maheswaran, who always had a book under her arm. Connie Maheswaran, who wasn’t much of a visual artist, but who was clever and creative and always did her homework.

Connie Maheswaran, who, Ms. Daw suddenly realized, was _ripped_. 

The lion’s light faded. Connie turned to look at the assembled onlookers. “Ms. Daw? Could you please tell my parents that I’ve gone to help Steven, and that I’ll be back as soon as I can?”

Mutely, Ms. Daw nodded. What else could she do?

Connie didn’t do well in crowds. Ms. Daw knew this— knew that Connie hated having to give class presentations or attend school dances. But now, despite all the people watching, she didn’t seem nervous at all. She walked forward calmly, and with her one free hand, gripped the lion’s mane. She pulled herself up and swung herself smoothly onto its back. 

Somebody whistled in amazement. Connie looked at them with surprise, apparently only just noticing everyone else. Then, her serious expression faltered, just briefly, as she shot everyone a proud, confident smile.

“Lion,” she cried, “AWAY!”

And on queue, the creature sprang into action, running straight down the hallway. It roared, and from its mouth shot a beam of light, which transformed into a portal. It leapt into it; for a moment, everyone caught briefly caught sight of a swirling vortex of shifting, dizzying lights. 

Then the portal vanished, girl and lion along with it.

For a long, long moment, there was nothing but stunned silence.

Then, slowly, Ms. Daw turned to face her students. “Just to be sure,” she said, “You all saw that too, right?”

A chorus of nods. 

“Good,” said Ms. Daw. She was gonna need all the backup she could get when she explained _this_ to the principle. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative Chapter Title: "Connie Lives Out That YA Classroom Fantasy We All Had At Least Once"


	5. Lapis Lazuli

Lapis Lazuli, as far as Connie could determine, had three moods.

There was active dislike. This came in the form of dark scowls, biting comments, and an expression like a dark storm. The Crystal Gems were the ones mostly on the receiving end of this— as well as anything or anyone unlucky enough to remind her of Jasper.

There was total adoration. This came in the form of bright eyes, sweet smiles and playful shapes of water drifting through the air. This mood was apparently reserved exclusively for Steven.

And then there was indifference. 

Most things fell into this camp. Connie included.

Lapis wasn’t around Beach City very often. When she was, she could usually be found hiding in some corner or flying high above, silently observing the world around her. She rarely acknowledged Connie. The most the girl had ever gotten from her was a dull ‘hi’ when Steven had first formally introduced them. Nothing more.

That was fine by Connie. 

Lapis unnerved her. She wasn’t like the other Gems. Unless she was with Steven, she barely ever smiled, or joked, or even spoke. Connie had become used to Amethyst’s pranks, Pearl’s proud lectures, Garnet’s quiet confidence, and even Peridot’s hyper energy. Lapis Lazuli had none of that. For the most part, she seemed like a silent blue shadow. 

And she was powerful.

All Gems were powerful, of course. They could summon magical weapons, shape shift, were incredibly strong, functionally immortal, and could fuse together to make a new being greater than the sum of their parts. But Lazuli was on another level entirely.

So, yeah, Connie was kind of uneasy around her. Who could blame her? She remained polite and cordial around Lapis, but otherwise, kept her distance.

She was therefore understandably surprised when one evening, as she sat alone on Steven’s deck, tuning her violin, to have Lapis suddenly land in front of her. Steven wasn’t with her; he’d been called to an ‘emergency meeting’ with Mayor Dewey in regards to a “small green gremlin” which had broken into the Election Van, apparently in a search for spare parts.

“You don’t like me, do you?” Lapis said bluntly.

Connie blinked, taken aback. She hadn’t thought she’d been that obvious.

But obviously, she had, and if Lapis knew, Connie doubted it would be a good idea to lie. “No.”

“Why?” Lapis asked.

Connie bristled a little. “Why do you care?”

“Steven,” Lapis answered. Of course. “He likes you. He wants us to be friends. But you don’t want to be.

“All the others do,” she continued, when Connie didn’t immediately respond. “They’re all eager to move past everything that happened. Garnet’s nice enough. Amethyst’s always trying to play with me and calling me weird names. Pearl’s apologetic. And Peridot practically trips over herself trying to get on my good side. But not you. Why?”

The girl surveyed her. “You really can’t guess?”

Lapis shrugged.

“Because of what you did.”

“What I did?” Lapis sounded mystified.

“You stole the entire ocean!”

“Oh, that.” Lapis waved her hand. “I gave it back.”

Connie laid down her violin and crossed her arms. “You weren’t going to. If Steven hadn’t been able to heal your gem, you would have taken all the water on the planet, and what would have happened to us?” Lapis regarded her with an inscrutable expression. “We would have all died!”

Lapis raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yes, really!”

“Gems don’t need water to survive.”

“Well, humans do. Practically everything on the planet does. Do you know what would have happened if you’d sucked the ocean into space? Climate change. Drought, especially. We need water to drink, Lapis— three days without it and that’s it. Wars would have been fought over what little water was left. It would have been a disaster!

“And yeah, you gave us the ocean back, but it’s not like there weren’t still problems! All the ocean currents got… rearranged. Weather’s been weird all year! Whole ecosystems have been devastated. I’ve been watching all about it on the news. A lot of people eat fish, you know. People have been starving in coastal regions globally.

“So, yeah, Lapis,” Connie said. “I don’t really like you.”

The alien looked stunned. “I…”

Connie still wasn’t finished. “And that’s just the indirect stuff. Don’t forget that you broke Mr. Universe’s leg, and nearly _killed_ me and Steven.”

Lapis seemed affronted by that. “When?”

“When you almost drowned us!” Seeing incomprehension on Lapis’s face, Connie explained, “You surrounded our heads in bubbles of water!”

“You just told me humans need water!”

“Yeah, to _drink_. But if it stops our breathing— gets into our lungs, blocks our oxygen— we die. In minutes. Oh, and don’t forget when you dropped that water tower when Steven was still on it. He couldn’t float back then. He fell from the upper atmosphere! I managed to catch him on Lion’s back, but if I hadn’t— _splat_. Dead.”

“I… I didn’t know.”

“Yeah. You didn’t.” Connie found that at some point she’d stood up. Her fists were clenched; she was breathing heavily and her face was flushed with anger. “And you didn’t even bother to find out.

“You like Steven. Great. I know you’d never hurt him intentionally. But there’s so much you don’t know about him! About _us_. And you don’t even seem interested in finding out. _Peridot_ does. She’s always asking questions! I’ve been teaching her all about the human body— even after she told me that she didn't know how to shape-shift, she's still been letting me teach her about digestive systems and stuff!"

Connie locked eyes with Lapis. “I know what happened to you. About… about the war, and the mirror, and Malachite. I know it sucked. A lot. But that doesn’t give you the right to hurt others. So until you’ve proven that you’re sorry— and that it won’t happen again— I’m not really that interested in being friends.”

And Connie stopped, suddenly out of breath, her rant finished. She hadn’t even realised she’d had it in her until it had burst out.

Lapis wasn’t moving. Her wings were outspread, as though she might jump up into the air at any moment, but she wasn’t moving. Her face was drawn back in a mask of cold fury. Her dark blue eyes glittered dangerously.

It had grown dark. The sun had set, casting long purple shadows across the beach. Connie couldn’t even see the ocean anymore, but she could hear it. What before had just been white noise in the background now seemed to grow impossibly loud, the roll and crash of each wave now coming into frightening focus. 

Lapis’s fists were clenched tight, Connie noticed, cold fear slicing through her. 

A single twitch of her hand. A single twitch. That’s all Lapis would need, and she could sweep Connie away in an instant.

Connie wished desperately that she had a sword with her. But she didn’t. All she had was a partially-tuned violin. So with a calm that she didn’t feel she reached down, picked the instrument up, and turned. She walked through the screen door to Steven’s room without looking back. She heard it clatter closed behind her. She stood there for a long moment— waiting for her heart to stop pounding in her chest, waiting for some kind of retaliation, but it never came. Finally, she climbed up the stairs to her friend’s room, and waited for him to return from his meeting with Mayor Dewey. 

oOoOo

Weeks passed. Steven visited her house multiple times, and Connie visited his. Not once did Connie see Lapis. Even Steven only ever mentioned her occasionally in passing. He seemed to have no idea of what had passed between them. Sometimes, Connie was seized with the sudden desire to share exactly what she’d said to her, but each time she’d felt so sick to her stomach that she’d let the moment pass.

Steven was so sweet. While she meant what she said, she didn’t think it was fair to talk to him about his friend that way.

It was a glum, overcast day in mid October. There was already a chill in the autumn air, but she and Steven weren’t going to let that stop them from having an Adventure.

The adventure they’d planned on having was just a trip to the local library, to find some new series to dig into. But then, halfway there, they were interrupted by a rampaging gem monster.

Said monster was basically an anteater— if anteaters were larger than trucks, had tails covered in giant spikes, and spit lava. 

A glob of said magma hit a nearby car. There was a sickeningly long moment of silence as it ate through the metal, then a _roar_ as the engine exploded. 

It definitely wasn’t chilly anymore.

Before Steven and Connie even had time to move, Lion was at their side, mane glowing. Connie plunged her hand into his fur, her hand finding a cold hilt inside— she pulled out Rose Quartz’s sword. She exchanged the briefest of glances with Steven, and then went into action. With panicked screams and the wail of fire engines echoing in the background, the pair attacked the monstrous anteater.

The creature was not expecting it. Connie swung at a leg, and hit; her blade buried itself a good few inches in. The creature roared and swiped at her— Steven’s shield was there to block the blow.

The two fought like a well oiled machine, Connie on offence, Steven on defence, the two weaving easily around each other, not even needing to see to know where the other would be. They had been trained well.

But they’d been trained, primarily, against Pearl and her holograms. A unit of quick, human-sized sword-fighters was a very different opponent than a slow, lumbering tank that spat liquid rock. Many of their pre-practiced moves and sets were useless, and they had to improvise on the fly.

The greatest threat was the lava. Not just to them, but the surrounding neighbourhood. Fireballs were going everywhere. Fences, buildings, garbage cans— all of it was burning. Clogging, putrid smoke filled the air. Fire fighters were trying to get in and provide relief, but they could hardly park their engines with a monster barreling down the streets. 

Sweat dripped into Connie eyes. She wiped it away impatiently. They had to take the monster down, and fast.

A sharp scream cut through the air. Connie spun. Someone— a man— was trapped at the end of the street, limping. The monster was advancing on him, its long nose raised, glowing a bright red. Another shot of magma was going to go right at him, and there was no way he’d be able to escape. Already Steven was charging, shield raised, but he seemed so slow, he wasn’t gonna make it in time—

— Garnet jumped down, in between the man and the monster, gauntlets raised. The magma ball went right at her. She caught it in her mighty hands, then tossed it right back in the anteater’s face.

At the same time Pearl dropped out of the air behind her, picked up the limping man with one arm, then sprinted him off to safety. Out of the corner of her eye, Connie saw a purple blur. She focused on it just in time to see a whip shoot out and wrap around the beast’s hind legs. It toppled to the ground with a groan, Amethyst grinning wickedly. Then there was a flash of green; looking down to the other end of the street, Connie found Peridot with a satisfied smile of her own, some sort of laser gun hoisted on her shoulder.

The calvary had arrived.

Six against one. The monster didn’t stand a chance. It was trapped beneath an onslaught of punches, whips, spears, laser beams and sword slices. Connie was the one to land the final blow, cutting off the anteater’s nose. For a moment, she got to see its shocked, horrified expression before its body dissolved. Steven dove forward and caught its sparkling red gemstone, bubbling it. He grinned at her; she grinned back. They’d done it!

Victory was short lived, however. The whole street around them was in flames. Casting her eyes around, Connie counted ten houses, a library and three cars in flames, and some of the fire was creeping dangerously close to a gas station. A swear word she’d been absolutely forbidden from ever saying danced on her tongue. 

Pearl was pulling her to a safer distance, and Connie was just thinking about how she wished that the day’s clouds would give way to rain, when the lighting… shifted.

Connie looked up. For a moment, she couldn’t work out what she was seeing. The clouds were still there, but a strange, shivering, shifting view of light seemed to be stretched across the entire sky. Then she spotted the blue figure high above, arms stretched out. Lapis let her arms drop, and the water came crashing down onto the burning buildings.

Within half an hour all the fires were completely out. Firefighters and other emergency response workers were double checking to ensure no smaller flames were hidden among the debris, as well as providing medical aid do anyone who’d gotten hurt in the attack. Steven was running around, offering to lick peoples’ burns, which surprisingly enough, wasn’t proving to be very popular. Part of Connie felt like she should be trying to vouch for the credibility of his healing abilities, but she was too exhausted to keep up. She wanted to go back to the Temple and collapse on the couch.

For now, she settled for leaning against a wall and doing her best to stay awake.

A shadow passed overhead. With a soft whoosh of wings, Lapis landed next to her. She looked at the human, arms crossed, eyes averted. She said, “You were right.”

Connie looked at the charred buildings, still salvageable, and the people wearing blankets, clutching tea to their chests— all alive. She said, “Good job.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like Lapis, I really do! But Connie can be kind of intense, and I think she'd have more trouble than the others in moving past certain experiences. (And maybe I'm working out some of my own frustrations with certain parts of the fandom that treat Lapis are a perfect, blameless angel).


	6. Amethyst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for 'Crack the Whip' and 'Steven vs Amethyst'.

“Hey Amethyst!”

Amethyst cracked open her eyes, looking up from the rock she was currently sunning herself on in the shape of a seal. “Yo. What up?”

Connie held out the bag of mixed nuts she’d brought. “I thought you might be hungry? You can have the bag, if you’d prefer.”

“Sure.” Amethyst gave a shrug of her flippers, and with a flash of purple light, turned back into her usual self. She sat up while Connie dropped down onto the sand besides her. Connie ripped open the bag, stuck her hand in, and pulled out a couple of almonds. She offered the bag to Amethyst, who grabbed an entire fist full of mixed nuts, then stuffed them in her mouth. “Yum.”

The nuts (and the plastic bag) were gone within in minutes. Amethyst let out a huge burp, leaned back, then said, “So what's _really_ up?”

“Uh…” said Connie. “Nothing! Just wanted to hang.”

“Dude, you’re super easy to read. Just spill.”

Connie bit her lip. “I just… just wanted to see how you were doing.”

Amethyst sighed, blowing a lock of white hair out of her face. She scowled out towards the ocean. “Great. You too. What did Steven tell you?”

“Nothing! He didn’t tell me anything.”

“Even better. I’m just _that_ easy to read.”

“No, no,” Connie said quickly. “It’s not that— it’s just. Well. Steven and I were fused…”

Amethyst raised an eyebrow at her. “Again?”

“Yeah! Well— on the beach, fighting Jasper, we fused accidentally, but we did really well, so we thought it might be a good idea to do some training _as_ Stevonnie. And well,” Connie’s cheeks darkened. “It’s fun. You know?”

A small smile played at Amethyst’s lips. “Yeah. I do.” She lay back down and stared at the cloudless blue sky above. “So you’ve picked up... stuff from Stevonnie?”

Connie nodded, even though she wasn’t sure if Amethyst could see it.

Fusing was… strange. At least in her experience. Maybe it worked different for full-Gem fusions, but at least for Stevonnie, it wasn’t as though a total mind transfer happened. You didn’t come out of it knowing everything the other person knew. Steven wouldn't know the names of Connie’s grandparents, and Connie wouldn’t know which drawer Steven kept his socks in. The only things that transferred over were the things they explicitly shared. The memories of everything they did as Stevonnie. The things they thought about as Stevonnie. The emotions they shared as Stevonnie.

Joy. Exhilaration. Annoyance. Anger. Frustration. Fear. Triumph. Worry.

Stevonnie had been really worried about Amethyst. 

So now Connie was, too.

And that was kind of weird. Because, obviously, Connie cared about Amethyst. Thought she was super cool, admired her fighting, relished her magic. Looked up to her. But they’d only ever hung out a couple times. The caring was more of... an extension of her caring for Steven.

But now she had memories floating around in her head, memories that weren’t hers, memories that she couldn’t _quite_ focus on, of Amethyst yelling and crying and desperate, and it was impossible not to act on them.

“You’re really that beat up about Jasper?” Connie asked.

“Duh, of _course_!” Amethyst’s voice was a growl. She still wasn’t looking at Connie. “My job was to protect you guys. Instead, I nearly got shattered, and you two had to come in and save _me_.”

“Amethyst. That’s not fair. You tired Jasper out—”

“Pfft.”

“You did! And when we went against her, it was two versus one, and we were fused, so—”

“That’s not the **poin** t,” Amethyst snapped. “Jasper and me are both quartzes. We’re meant to be the **same**. But I’m tiny and she’s huge and I’ll never be able to beat her.”

_So what?_ Connie wanted to say. She wanted to tell Amethyst how little it mattered. How Jasper was just a giant jerk. How being able to defeat her didn’t mean anything. How Amethyst was cool, and funny, and brave, and a thousand times better than that other lousy hunk of rock.

But Connie didn’t. Because another part of her _got it_.

She got what it was like, to try and try and try at something, and feel like she’d never be as good as people expected her to be. It was the feeling she got, whenever she got a report-card back, with comments about how she was 'struggling' with her public speaking and group work. She got what it was like, to to be surrounded by magic and monsters, and feel as though she could never measure up. She understood what it was like, to know that her friends were in danger, and to feel as though she’d never be good enough to be able to help them.

She was still afraid of that, a little. And she knew she'd never be as strong or as powerful as a Gem. But she'd been training and practicing, and that fear had faded. Maybe Amethyst needed the same thing. 

“You could ask Pearl for help,” Connie suggested.

“No! No.” Amethyst’s fists clenched. “She thinks— she thinks I’m so much better at fighting than I am. I don’t— I can’t let her know how much I suck.

“Besides. I’ve trained with her before. It never works. I just mess up, and start acting stupid, then she gets angry, and then—” Amethyst let out a huge groan of frustration, then flopped down on her back. “No Pearl.”

Connie sat there, awkward. She kind of wanted to reach out, put a comforting hand on Amethyst’s arm, or give her a hug but— she wasn’t sure if Amethyst would like that. Or if it would even help.

How could she help? It wasn’t like she could magically make Amethyst bigger or stronger, any more than Amethyst could make her better at presentations, or give her Gem powers.

An idea came to her.

“Amethyst— would you train me?”

“What?” Amethyst turned to stare at her. “You don’t need me. You’ve got Pearl and Steven.”

“Yeah, but I’m not going to be fighting Pearl and Steven in a real battle,” said Connie. “If we’re gonna be fighting monsters, and Homeworld soldiers, then I’m going to need to be prepared for more than what they can throw at me.”

“Then go train with Garnet.”

Connie shook her head— and only partly because the thought of going toe to toe with Garnet still made her blanch. “But you’ve got so many abilities for me to fight against! I mean, you’ve got your whips— medium range _and_ short range practice, that spin dash would be excellent for reflexes and dodging, _and_   you can you can shape shift, so you can be practically any size at all!”

Amethyst rolled over to look at her. “Do you really think I could help?”

“Yes!” Connie exclaimed. “Pearl’s amazing, she really is, but you were right. In battle, I’m not always going to be able to really focus and think. I just gotta- do it. It was your advice about being loose that we needed to fight Jasper. I want to learn how _you_ fight, too!”

The Gem sat up. She was rubbing her elbow, staring down into her lap, not answering. Tempted. She needed something else to push her over the edge.

Connie smiled, and put on her most casual voice. "And if you want, I could show you some of the stuff Pearl taught me.”

Amethyst peeked at her from behind her long bangs, conflicting emotions on her face. “…Fine,” she said at last. “I’m in.”

“Great!”

The Gem stood up and stretched. “One thing, though, if we’re gonna do this.”

“What?” asked Connie. 

Amethyst smiled, sharp and predatory. Her gem glowed, and a whip appeared in her hand. “Run!”

She snapped the whip mere inches from Connie’s leg. The girl jumped up, making a startled sound halfway between a yelp and a laugh. “I don’t have my sword!”

“So?” Amethyst said, barring her whip again. “What if you get disarmed in battle? What’re ya gonna do then?”

Connie screeched again, jumping out of the way of another whip strike. She scanned the beach quickly, catching sight of a promising looking piece of drift wood. She charged off towards what would hopefully be her new weapon. Amethyst laughed, transformed into a hawk, and bore down after her. 

Training was _on_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had ideas for each and every chapter of this story since I first came up with the idea, but I would be lying if I said that these two most recent episodes didn't give me an inspiration boost. (Also YES MORE CONNIE THIS IS GOOD)
> 
> Next up... somebody with square hair.


	7. Garnet

“The control panel is down there,” said Garnet. “I will deactivate it. Watch my back.”

Connie nodded, even though a large part of her mind was wondering about the strange Twilight Zone she’d entered where _Garnet_ wanted to _her_ to watch her back. 

The whole situation was unorthodox. By now Connie was getting used to going on magical missions, but she was used to going on them with Steven. This time, however, Garnet had announced that she would be coming with her, and the certainty in her voice had left no room for argument.

Garnet had to have a reason, of course. She always did. Connie just wished she knew the reason. She also couldn’t help but wish she was with Steven and Pearl, on their mission off in the East of the Sahara desert.

Connie herself was currently in the desert’s North, while Amethyst, Peridot and Lapis had warped to the West. It turned out that the entire desert was in fact the site of a vast subterranean Gem construction site. Its intended purpose would have been to function as a large-scale terraforming hub; sand removal, ocean draining, temperature alteration, even continent rearrangement.

The site had never been completed. It had been one of the Crystal Gems’ first targets during the war. But while construction had been halted, the original infrastructure had remained dormant, buried beneath the sand, apparently non-functional.

Then two days ago the entire region had begun experiencing unexpected earthquakes. Then there had been odd weather, ranging from flash floods to hail. There had also been reports of strange buildings growing out of the sand itself. It seemed that whatever system Homeworld had constructed had been on a time limit. The installed program was saying that it was time to get to work. It was incomplete, so it wouldn’t be able to achieve its terraforming goals— but it would be able to cause a lot of chaos.

The Crystal Gems had to shut it down. 

There were three control centres, arranged in a giant triangle. As a failsafe measure, each one had to be switched-off manually for the program to be overridden. So they’d split up into three groups. Team one had Peridot, who would be officially accepted by the computer system, with Amethyst and Lapis as support. Pearl had gone to help Steven, who had the Rose Quartz gem, and therefore high-ranking enough to shut down the controls. Finally, there was Connie and Garnet.

Before they’d warped off, Connie had asked if Garnet would have access. She’d been told, “Homeworld systems won’t recognise a fusion.”

“Then how…?”

Garnet had just smiled.

She wasn’t smiling now. She was staring down through the dark corridor, constructed out of sand, which lead deep beneath the desert. Possibly she was peering into the future, to see what lurked inside.

“Let’s go,” Garnet announced. She took off, Connie jogging after and into the tunnel.

Out in the desert it had been painfully bright. As they moved deeper down the corridor it grew dimmer and dimmer, the sunlight streaming through the entranceway becoming just a retreating pinprick behind them. Eventually Garnet raised up a palm, a bright red beam shooting out from it like a flashlight. Her other hand remained at her side, ready to summon her gauntlet. 

Connie strengthened her grip on the sword which hung from her hip in its scabbard. If Garnet had to fight singled handed, Connie would need to be doubly prepared.

(She was cursing herself for not carrying a miner’s helmet in her backpack.)

They came to a fork in the path, each tunnel leading into deeper darkness. Garnet laid a hand on the sandy wall. Connie followed her lead. It was vibrating, low and vast, like a computer near overheating. Tracing their hands along the wall, they were able to feel the vibration grow notably stronger towards the left-hand branch. So that’s where they went.

Connie was on high alert, focusing on maintaining her footing on the sandy floor, listening for any change to the electric hum which hung in the air. She didn’t immediately notice when a new light source appeared— engravings in the wall, written in the Gem language, glowing faint orange. They must have been some form of directions, because when they reached yet another branch in the path, Garnet read one of the signs, pointed right, and said, “This way.”

Now the vibration could be felt right up through Connie’s feet. The horrible hum seemed to have drilled itself into her hindbrain. It was endlessly irritating, but perhaps its pervasiveness was a good thing, because she was able to sense a change in it— it grew louder, the growl deeper, like an upcoming subway train. Automatically she braced. “Garn—!”

The Gem didn’t let her finish. Just picked her up and sprung forward. There was a roar as something huge tore through the wall right behind them. Connie didn’t see what— they were already running, feet pounding on the sand.

They ran and ran, and then there was a door in front of them. Not made of sand, but some alien metal, with a hand-shaped lock in the centre. Clearly their destination. Garnet slammed her palm onto the lock, and didn’t look surprised when the door didn’t budge.

“How are we going to get in?” Connie yelled over the roar of the oncoming monster.

Garnet turned back the way they’d came. Connie turned to. She could see nothing through the dimness. 

“Get ready to jump,” Garnet said. 

The roar turning into a screech, and out of the darkness hurtled a giant mouth.

Connie and Garnet jumped to their left. The thing just charged forward, and tore right through the door. There was a loud crash as the monster hit the far wall on the other side. It began to thrash in pain and confusion. 

In her life, Connie had read a lot of classical sci-fi. Of the things she’d read, she’d never been particularly enthused by _Dune_. She did have to give Frank Herbert credit for one thing, however: 

Sand worms were terrifying.

That’s what this thing was. Twenty feet long, brown hide belonging to something between a worm and a snake, with a circular mouth filled with teeth, so huge that it could eat a great white shark in a single bite.

“Get it,” Garnet ordered. “I’ll shut the system down.”

So Garnet ran right towards the monster, through the twisted remains of the door, and Connie went too. She had a brief impression of a huge control room-- panel after panel of glowing buttons, monitors furiously flashing lights-- but then she was entirely focused on the monster. It filled her entire world. Its massive mouth and gnashing teeth and writhing mass, and in the back of her head, Garnet's orders, ' _Watch my back_ '.

She dodged and thrust and parried, trying to cut through the monster's skin, but its hide was too thick. Even propelling herself off the wall, giving herself maximum leverage and momentum, she could barely make a dent. She recalled Pearl's lessons- find the weak point, and strike. 

What weak point did this opponent have? It didn't have a soft underbelly or exposed eyes. The only place Connie could find was...

... its mouth. Huge, gaping, filled with circles of rotating teeth-- but when the worm reared, opening it wide to swallow her whole--

Connie pulled back her arm and threw the sword like a spear. It sailed forward, past the teeth, burying itself in the monster's gullet.

There was a soft explosion of light as the creature's form dissipated. Breathing heavily, Connie retrieved both the sword and gemstone from the floor. She turned her attention to Garnet, who had spent her time fighting the control panel as opposed to a monster. She had most emphatically won. She hadn't just settled for flicking switches and pushing buttons. Monitors were cracked, panels broken in half, wiring pulled out like a tangle of guts. 

Wordlessly, Garnet took the monster's gem from Connie and swiftly bubbled it. 

"Finished?" asked Connie.

"Almost. Stand back."

Connie complied. There was was final untouched button on the remaining, undestroyed control panel. Or, Connie had thought it was a button-- but no, it was too shiny, too faceted. It was an embedded gem. Garnet gripped it, and **yanked** \--

\-- an explosion tossed them backwards. Connie hit the sand wall behind her with a hard thud, the air knocked out of her lungs. There was a sound in her ears, like the rush of a thousand hourglasses-- blood, she thought at first, but no, this was all around her. Something was falling on her head, on her face, into her eyes, her mouth.

She choked on the grit. Sand. Sand everywhere. The gem-- the gem had been controlling the tunnels, and now they were all coming apart.

"Garnet!" Connie called. She found her lying on the floor a few feet away, the desert gem still clutched in her hand. Connie rushed over. "Garnet!"

Garnet blinked up at her. Her glasses were gone. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused. "C- Connie."

Did she have a concussion? Was that even possible?

"The place is coming down," Connie yelled. Garnet pulled herself up, standing unsteadily. Connie cast around for something, anything too help. She saw something. A strange lump on the floor, half buried in the sand. She lunged at it, and felt a handle in her hand. She brushed the sand away. Yes! A trap door!

Connie tugged, but it was far too heavy for her to budge. She groaned. " _Oppppeeen_."

Whatever was wrong, Garnet still had enough presence of mind to understand. She wrenched the hatch open, and the two of them tumbled down into darkness, before the trapdoor slammed shut above them.

Connie spat out a mouthful of sand, wondering what they could do next. The place was pitch black, and cramped, and they were stuck inside. Suddenly her eyes filled with a bright light. It was coming from Garnet-- pure white at first, then blue and red. The split, and faded. 

"Ruby? Sapphire?"Connie had never met them before, but she knew there was no one else they could be. It was dark for a moment, until a dimmer blue light returned, coming from Sapphire's palm. She was holding her partner in her arms-- and something was wrong. The monster's gem had been left abandoned on the floor. Ruby's eyes were shut, and her body was flickering.

"Her gem is cracked," Sapphire said. "Get out the saliva."

Connie was frozen in overwhelming panic and confusion-- then she remembered. She did have a small water bottle filled with healing spit. Steven had given it to her a few weeks ago, 'just in case', but mostly it had just been an excuse for him to spit into a bottle. Now Connie swung the backpack off and dug through it-- past the granola bars, sunscreen, compass-- before finally finding it. Sapphire had laid Ruby out on the floor. She looked horrible, her body blinking in and out of existence. 

Connie unscrewed the bottle's cap, and poured some saliva into it. Then carefully, she dripped onto Ruby's palm, where her gem sat with a crack straight through it. 

The second the spit touched the stone, sparks of light danced around it. The crack sealed right up in an instant. Sapphire sighed with relief as Ruby's eyes flickered open. She smiled up at them. " _Sapphire_ ," she said. And then, "Connie. Good to meet ya."

Connie could have laughed. Instead she said, "Nice to meet you too, ma'am."

Ruby sat up, Sapphire seizing her up in a fierce hug. Connie looked away and busied herself screwing the lid back onto the bottle of healing spit. It was sweltering, so she grabbed a regular water bottle and took a long gulp. It helped wash the grit out of her throat, but did nothing about the heat. There had been ice cubes in there when she'd left the Temple, but those had long since melted. Now the water was barely lukewarm. 

She expected Garnet to be back by the time she was done, but when she looked up, Ruby and Sapphire were still there, watching her. 

"Hot?" Ruby asked, as she bubbled the worm's gem. 

 

"I'm fine," Connie said, and resisted the urge to wipe her forehead.

The Gems exchanged a look. Then Ruby took a step back, while Sapphire came to sit next to Connie. Off her came wave after wave of blissful cold.

"Steven never told you about our elemental powers," Ruby teased, from across the small room.

"Is this better?" Sapphire asked.

"Ah-- yes, thank y--" Connie was cut off by a sudden lurch, her stomach dropping like she was in an elevator. 

"We're going up," Sapphire said, before Connie could ask. "Safety feature. The escape pod will reach the surface in ten minutes."

"Oh. Good, " Connie said. Then she shuffled a little closer to Sapphire, because it was really hot.

"Well," said Ruby, folding her hands behind her head. "That was a fun date."

Sapphire giggled. "Sure was, hot stuff."

The pair burst into laughter, and and Connie had to stop herself from staring. Were they... flirting?

They were. Outrageously. The two kept making jokes, winking, and blowing kisses at each other. It was simultaneously adorable and unbearable. The only time Connie had ever seen her parents anywhere like this was when they'd gotten drunk last Holi. Were Ruby and Sapphire like this whenever they were apart?

"Is it weird?" Connie asked them. "Being unfused?"

The pair's giggling subsided as they focused on her. 

"Not weird," said Ruby.

"Simply different," said Sapphire.

"Do you... dislike it?" 

The Gems looked thoughtful. In unison they answered, "No."

Connie hesitated. She felt as thought she might be pushing against some unseen boundary, but... "If you don't mind being unfused, then why do you stay Garnet all the time?"

"'Cause we like it," Ruby said, simply.

Connie stared down at her lap. There had to be more than that. Had to be more of a reason than just liking fusion, to give yourself into it, so completely and utterly. To be willing to give up your own identity, your own life, to permanently become someone else--

"Is something troubling you, Connie?" Sapphire asked.

"N-no."

Sapphire brushed away her thick hair, and stared at Connie with a single, piercing gaze. It hardened some resolve inside her. She wouldn't get a better chance then this.

"I guess... well, I've been thinking. We've been forming Stevonnie a lot recently, and we both really enjoy it, so I was wondering if maybe... Do you think we should be them all the time?"

Silence, aside from susurration of the bunker sliding up through the sand. 

"What's your reasoning?" asked Sapphire.

"Because-- because. I love being around Steven. So much. And we're great as Stevonnie. We're so fast, and smart, and confident." They were watching her, faces unreadable. It felt as though her explanation was falling short. "We're so much better in battle, and even just hanging out, Stevonnie's a lot of fun! And I mean, Garnet's awesome, and you're her all the time, so there can't be anything wrong with it. 

"It's just..."

"Just what?" Ruby prompted.

Connie sighed. "Well. I mean, it would be complicated. I go to school, but Steven stays with you guys all the time. And I haven't even told my parents about Stevonnie. I've told them about everything else... but I just don't know if they'd get it. And um..." Ruby and Sapphire waited patiently for her to organize her words. "And I love being Stevonnie, but I'm not sure if... if I want to _always_ be them..."

"Then don't be," Ruby said.

It wasn't the answer she'd been expected. "But Garnet--"

"Garnet's us," said Ruby. " _Our_ relationship. Not yours and Steven's."

"We stay together because we want to," said Sapphire. "Because the world looks brighter that way."

"Because it helps us protect who we love," said Ruby.

"Because we can," said Sapphire. "And nobody can stop us."

"But you're not us," continued Ruby. "You have your own reasons to fuse. And staying fused doesn't necessarily make a relationship better."

"Just different," said Connie. She nodded. She could see their point, but she still felt... unsatisfied, somehow.

"Maybe one day you'll feel different," said Sapphire. "It's perfectly fine if you change your mind."

Ruby nodded. "But whatever happens, you should talk to Steven about it. Have you?"

"Um. No." Connie blushed. She'd thought about it, a few times, but she'd never really been sure how to bring it up. Something so big, so huge. 

"Talk to Steven," Sapphire and Ruby said, together.

Connie wondered, then, why Garnet had asked her to come on this particular mission in the first place. Surely Garnet could have handled the giant worm by herself. And if she had foreseen Ruby's crack, then couldn't Garnet have just brought some healing spit herself? Why had she chosen Connie over everyone else? Had... had this conversation been the reason?

Future vision. It was confusing.

There was a metallic groan and a lurch.

"We've stopped," Sapphire said, unnecessarily. She gave Connie a gentle pat on the knee, then stood and made her way directly to Ruby.

Their dance was barely a dance at all. It was an embrace, a twirl, a touch of lips, and the pair melted into each other seamlessly. Connie watched in admiration as Garnet re-materialized. The fusion grinned at her.

Connie clambered to her feet. "Are we going?"

"There will be a lot of sand flying around outside. You need something to protect your eyes."

Connie looked down at her backpack, heart sinking. Two of the things she hadn't packed: miner's helmet and goggles.

Garnet knelt down, and slipped something onto the girl's face. Connie blinked as everything took on a sudden purple tint. "Your glasses!"

Garnet winked one of her three eyes.

It had been months since she'd last worn glasses, but the visor felt comfortable and secure on her face. Swinging her backpack on and adjusting her scabbard, Connie felt ready to face anything. She said, "Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three Crystal Gems for the price of one! Out today courtesy of the typhoon which kept all my students at home, giving me extra time to edit. 
> 
> Fun fact! This chapter was originally going to be snow-themed, with Garnet defusing so Ruby could keep Connie warm in a thick blizzard. Then Gem Hunt came out, and that felt a bit repetitive, so I swapped settings. 
> 
> Next up: a surprise.
> 
> Oh-- and I almost forgot. Shout out to CoreyWW who wrote a story inspired by this one, which you can find in the related works: "The Connie Maheswaran Fanclub (Or: How Connie Became the Most Popular Topic in School After She Pulled a Sword Out of Lion in Front of Literally Everyone)". It's excellent, go read it.


	8. Together

Connie’s return to wakefulness was also a slow return to pain.

First there was the splitting throbbing in her head. Then there was the dull aching throughout her entire body. Then she made the mistake of rolling over, and discovered a whole new, sharper hurt all along her right side. 

_What happened_? she thought muzzily. Then with more alarm, _What_ ** _is_** _happening?_

Instinct wanted her to flail in fear, but training made her freeze. She forced her breathing to remain even. If there was any danger around, she didn’t want to inadvertently attract it. Listening intently, she couldn’t hear anything ominous. No footsteps, no screaming, no sounds of fighting. She could hear water though— it was very loud and very close. The ocean? Was she in Beach City?

Connie risked opening her eyes. She wasn’t on the beach. Light was dim, so it was hard to tell, but she seemed to be lying on some kind of mat. It was green in colour, hard but spongy, like a yoga mat. A really big, lumpy yoga mat. It surrounded her, then turned up at the edges, forming a sort of bowl shape. Over the bowl's edge she saw… sky?

Swallowing a grunt of pain, Connie got onto her knees and slowly crawled her way to the edge. She poked her head over, looked down— and had to fight a heavy wave of nausea.

Directly below her— far below her— was the ocean. Dark and roiling, it seemed to stretch on forever. Just looking at it made her headache throb, and Connie swayed, clutching at the mat for support.

“Careful,” a voice boomed. Connie nearly tipped over in surprise. Instead she flung herself away from the edge and onto her back. She found herself staring up into a pair of giant, reflective, pure black eyes.

“I scared you,” Alexandrite said, and anxiety could just be heard beneath the growl.

“N-no,” Connie said, even though there were few faces scarier to wake up to unexpectedly. She nearly grabbed at the mat, then realised it wasn’t a mat at all, but Alexandrite’s hand, and stopped herself. “I’m just... confused.”

Confused, and disoriented. Why was she so hurt? Why was Alexandrite carrying her, out in the middle of the ocean? She scanned her memories. They came to her in pieces. She remembered— an island, a spaceship, a pontoon of Quartzes— She remembered calling for peace— she remembered her calls being ignored— she remembered charging in— she remembered taking a Gem destabiliser to the back, and shrugging it off— she remembered an ax coming right at her head, blocking it with her shield—

Wait, her shield? She didn’t have a shield—

— Stevonnie’s shield. These weren’t her memories, they were Stevonnie’s. Stevonnie. Steven. She gasped. “ _Where’s Steven_?”

“With you,” Alexandrite said. 

Connie twisted around. And yes, there he was, just behind her. She hadn’t even noticed. She crawled over to him. He was unconscious and in rough shape. His clothes were stained and torn, his face bruised, and there was a long cut along the right side of his body, running from the top of his chest down to his hip.

Connie found that she had a matching injury in the exact same place. She remembered receiving it as Stevonnie— an unexpected lance thrust, a sudden searing pain.It had seemed much worse then. Maybe her mind was fooling her, or maybe they’d split the severity of the damage when they’d defused.

How had they defused? Her mind was a jumble, she couldn’t remember.

“What happened?” Connie asked.

“An Agate took Stevonnie by surprise. Smashed them against a cliff.” Connie winced at a sudden flash of painful memory. “You defused, neither of you were moving— the Agate was going to—” Alexandrite’s mouth snapped shut, and her jaw opened, barring rows of razor-sharp teeth. “I stopped her.”

“You fused,” said Connie.

Alexandrite raised her hand up to her face, until Connie was roughly at eye level with her. “I would do anything to protect you both.”

Connie shifted under the intensity in those words.

She recalled when she’d first met Alexandrite, at the dinner with her parents. She’d only known Steven for a few months at that point, had barely any understanding of his life or the Gems’. She hadn’t even known what fusion _was_. She’d been horrified by Alexandrite. Embarrassed and unbelieving. She’d thought the fusion might have been some random monster that Steven had wrangled into a hair-brained scheme.

(It _had_ been a hair-brained scheme, but in retrospect, it was a very sweet one.)

Now, instead of being horrified, Connie was seized with the fierce desire to give Alexandrite a hug.

The idea felt silly, though, not least because Alexandrite was a good fifteen times her size. So she just said, “Well, you did it. You protected us.”

Alexandrite didn’t answer. Just stared down at her, expression stony.

Connie realized her gaze was actually directed at Steven. He was still unconscious.

“He’s going to be fine,” Connie said, a little forcibly. “Those injuries aren’t bad, he’s just asleep, like I was.”

“I don’t know,” Alexandrite said, and there were three other voices echoing in her words. Alexandrite stopped moving to centre herself. “You were rolling and groaning before you even woke up. But he hasn’t moved at all.”

Connie bit her lip. If she was alright, s urely Steven had to be too?

But she couldn’t just assume. She ran through her first aid training. Checked his pulse and breathing. They were both slow, but within normal levels. She looked him over for any other injuries— aside from an impressive collection of minor bruises and scrapes, and the large cut along his side, there was also a sizeable lump on his head. Connie had a matching one, too. They must have gotten it from being smashed into the cliff. She peeked under his shirt and checked his gem, which was shiny and undamaged. When she pulled up one of his eyelids and shone a flashlight, his eye didn’t dilate. But his head did jerk back, and his arms moved to cover it. 

“Steven?” Connie and Alexandrite asked. He didn’t react, just settled back into his heavy slumber.

“Dreaming,” said Alexandrite.

Connie nodded. If Steven was on a psychic dream journey, maybe he was trying to stay asleep.

But she couldn’t be sure. So she returned her flashlight to her bag and brought out the healing spit. Gently she applied it along the length of Steven’s scratch. It sealed up seamlessly. She put it on his head, and the bump receded. She put a dab of spit onto his gem for good measure— it didn’t seem to do anything. His wounds were all healed, but still he slept on.

Probably just dreaming, she told herself.

Her own injuries hurt desperately, and Connie was sorely tempted to use the healing spit on herself. But her wounds weren’t serious, and she knew she should save her stock for emergencies. So she put the bottle away, and pulled out her more mundane first aid kid. She swallowed a painkiller, then set to work disinfecting and bandaging her and Steven’s many lesser scratches.

Alexandrite watched her the whole time, with her black, unblinking stare. “You’re very good at this.”

“My Mom taught me. I just wish I could do more.”

“You’ve already done a great deal,” said Alexandrite. 

“So have you,” said Connie. 

Connie stared out off into the sky. In the distance she could see a blue-and-green speck, which could only be Peridot and Lapis. She watched them fly. There was silence for a long stretch, punctuated only by the sound of Alexandrite’s huge legs crashing through the deep ocean water, and the quieter rhythm of Steven’s breathing.

“We’ll be here when he wakes up,” Connie promised.

“Yes,” said Alexandrite. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we are, folks.
> 
> That's the eight chapters I planned when I first conceived of this story. Maybe at some point I'll revisit it-- almost certainly if/when we get new Crystal Gems (eyes Centi and Bismuth hopefully), and maybe if I come up with some ideas, for all the other fusions. But for now, consider this story completed. Time for me to focus on some other stories. (I've got a Ruby/Sapphire story planned that I'm pretty excited to try my hand at). 
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone-- the comments, kudos, support. I've had a blast writing this, and I hope you had a blast reading.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Connie Maheswaran Fanclub (Or: How Connie Became the Most Popular Topic in School After She Pulled a Sword Out of Lion in Front of Literally Everyone)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7746817) by [CoreyWW](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoreyWW/pseuds/CoreyWW)




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